University System of Georgia (USG) Budget Shortage

Georgia USG Institutions Budget Shortage
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Georgia USG Institutions Budget Shortage
Public education is crucial since it facilitates knowledge and skills acquisition for numerous people. In addition, it provides the livelihoods to the majority of individuals, including teachers, administrators, and casual workers among others. When public institutions are underfunded, the quality of education is adversely impacted. Based on Allen Schick, budgeting refers to the process of systematically allocating resources to accomplish set objectives (Schick, 2017). The public problem that this paper emphasizes includes the budget decline of around $66 million in Georgia in the fiscal year 2024, which will hurt public education institutions, including universities and colleges (University System of Georgia, 2023). The budget deficit will significantly affect learning, teachers, students, and staff across Georgia.
The primary stakeholders in this public education problem are institutions of higher education, state government, teaching staff, students, organizations, and families. In particular, every budgeting system comprises control, planning, and management processes (Schick, 2017). When the University System of Georgia (USG) or education institutions do not get enough funding, the quality of education will be adversely affected. Teachers will no longer be motivated to push students to meet their learning objectives due to the lack of proper resources. Students’ families are likely to suffer financially due to the possibility of increasing school fees. Moreover, organizations will not get competent employees since some learners might not finish their courses due to financial hurdles or the lack of skilled teaching staff.
The budgeting problem in public education in Georgia is likely to have far-reaching adverse consequences. That is why it should be addressed. For instance, the USG institutions have already faced a loss of approximately $71.6 million in FY24 (University System of Georgia, 2023). If a further $66 million budget deficit is added, it means that learning activities in some institutions will be paralyzed. Besides, schools might pass the financial burden to parents through an increase in the fees charged. For Georgia to avoid this issue, which is likely to have adverse ripple effects, there should be a way to share the accumulated $504 million with all education institutions in USG (University System of Georgia, 2023). Since around 82% of these funds come from six schools, a policy should be implemented to allow inter-school funds sharing when the need arises. Another feasible solution would be for Georgia to find sponsors or alternative activities to generate revenues so that it ca...